Weekend Pancake Breakfast

** I apologize.  Blogger seems to want to put this up in ALL CAPS.  I can't figure out why...  I am not yelling, no matter what it looks like...  swan

I know this isn't supposed to be a "recipe" blog, but really, the food is incidental to telling you just a little bit about our mornings together...

Our weekdays start early, and between the moment when the alarm clock sounds and I need to be out the door, there is not time for anything extraneous.  Our weekday breakfast menu is healthy but pretty prosaic and unimaginative.  It keeps body and soul together, but no one is going to write home about our Special K and banana habit...

It is a luxury, on the weekend, to have something a little more "interesting" and satisfying for breakfast.  Most often, I'll make French Toast with a wonderful, hearty, multi-grain bread that we buy at Costco.  It is simply, made for being turned into French Toast.  I can also whip up a pretty yummy batch of scones, and we do that sometimes.  Or waffles.  Or, on a day like today, when He wakes up in the mood for pancakes, we like this recipe -- a modified copycat version of IHOP's Harvest Grain pancakes.

Ingredients

3/4 cup Quaker Oats
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups Silk Milk, Unsweetened, Vanilla
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg
1/4 cup  Splenda
1/4 - 1/2 cup chopped pecans, walnuts, cashews, or almonds

**Other possible additions:  peeled, chopped apple; raisins

Directions

*Makes about 20 small pancakes*

1. Grind the oats, almonds, and walnuts in a blender or food processor until fine, like flour.
5. Combine ground oats, almonds, walnuts, and pecans with the whole wheat flour and baking powder in a medium bowl.
6. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk-like mixture, oil, egg and Splenda and mix until smooth.
7. Combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients,and mix well.  This can be done in the blender jar.
8. Pour the batter onto a hot skillet, and cook the pancakes for 2 to 4 minutes on each side or until brown.
9. Serve with sugar-free syrup. Enjoy!

Moobie Gets on the Table A Lot

Our Moobie has gotten to be quite the character.  Anyone who has ever raised a kitten knows that there is an "adolescent" period during which the once "precious" kitten can be alternately delightful -- and then just pure aggravation (not unlike human adolescents, I guess).  Moobie definitely has her moments.  She is unbelievably curious, and more than just a little bit stubborn.  Wherever we are and whatever we are doing, she wants to be right in the middle of it all.  A lot of the time, that is just fine and not any problem.  She is fun and friendly and very personable.  However, try to sit down and eat a meal when the curious, flying fur beast insists that she ought to be allowed to jump right up and check out whatever interesting things she might find on your plate...  The continual refrain, around here, is "Moobie!  Get off the table!"  It is a command that Moobie routinely ignores, necessitating some sort of intentional move from one of us to enforce the idea that cats do not belong on the dinner table.

When I am home, I can summon up my "mean Mom voice" and scare the heck out of her.  When I get loud and growly sounding, she will head for the hills.  The problem is that I am not here during the daytime.  Moobie and "her Daddy" are here all by themselves all day everyday -- and He doesn't seem to scare her even a little bit.  Somewhere along the line, I joked that I thought the best way to break the cat of her table walking habit was probably going to involve spanking Himself every time the cat got up on the table.  We had a good laugh about that one...  Now, however, it isn't unusual for our Saturday morning snuggling to wind its way around to the point where He will quietly mention that, "Moobie got on the table a lot this week..."  And the truth shall set you free :-)

swan

Movie Review -- The Sessions

We saw The Sessions over the weekend.  It was playing at one of the three "art house" theaters here in our town.  We'd been waiting for it to arrive since seeing the trailer for it awhile back.  We were not disappointed.

It is, on the face of it, a movie about sex, and I can imagine that in our sex-negative culture, there will be those who will take issue with the content of this film.  That's sad.  It is, simply, a sweet, interesting, deep, honest essay about the nature of being human, and what intimate connection means to us.  The story of Mark O'Brien, who lives his life flat on his back, and mostly inside of the iron lung that keeps him breathing, takes an unflinching look at the part that sex plays in the life of a normal adult human.  The movie is surprisingly lacking in prurient or sensational cheap shots.  Even as the characters engage in frank sexual talk, and work their way along a path toward sexual satisfaction, and even with some significant full frontal nudity, the movie stays steadfastly focused on the human beings at the core of the story -- their hopes and fears and failings and triumphs.  John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, and William H. Macy shine.  It is well worth a look.

swan

Poopie Caves

Here we go -- another post that has nothing to do with spanking or BDSM, or any of the other "juicy" and "salacious" stuff that you can sometimes read here.  I know ... it is just that I am home today, feeling crummy with some sort of icky stomach bug (probably shared with me by one of my darling students), and I have lots of time on my hands.

We have, as you may be aware, two feline creatures:  Callie, the old lady house cat, and Moobie, the magical summer kitten.  I know that some of you are cat people, so you will get it when I tell you that having two cats in the same house presents challenges.  Our crotchety old lady is not at all happy with our new addition, and while the household is not a war zone, the truce that reigns is not exactly peaceful either.

Early on, when we were first acquired by Moobie, it became very clear, very fast, that the two cats would not happily or nicely share a litter box.  It was also obvious that Callie was going to bolt from her litter box anytime that the little one bounced into view -- and the kitten just couldn't resist the urge to tackle Callie in the litter box.  Chaos!

I figured that things might be better if I could find a litter box that would give Callie some privacy where she would not be ambushed easily.  I found what seemed to be a great solution (although not an inexpensive one) at the local Petsmart, and so brought home for Callie the Cadillac of all kitty litter boxes -- The Booda Dome, or what has come to be referred to around here as The Poopie Cave:

The Booda Dome, works to give the cat privacy, and the steps help to prevent litter tracking.  It has a charcoal filter in the top and does a pretty good job of containing the smells.  Nice unit.  Big, but nice.  Callie was happy, and it seemed that all was right with the world, until Moobie fell in love with the thing and decided she liked it better than her kitten-sized litter pan.  Within days, the kitten had acquired the grand Poopie Cave, and Callie was contemplating turning the whole house into her own personal litter box.

So, I hauled myself off to the Petsmart, and bought another one.  Hence, we now have two Poopie Caves.  Tah Dah!  Happy cats.  They are a wonder, and I really like them -- now if someone could help me figure out an easy way to clean these behemoths...  Please.

swan

Elite Seat -- A Rant

This post will have nothing at all to do with anything related to spanking or BDSM or any of the things that people come here to read.  So there's the disclaimer.

This post is a rant about a product that was supposed to help with the last bit of straightening on Tom's knee replacement -- a product manufactured by Kneebourne Therapeutic called Elite Seat.  It is likely that most of you will never encounter this beast.  It is, from all I can tell, a very specialized piece of equipment used mostly by physical therapists and sports medicine types...

The device is meant to help straighten the knee when it is bent due to muscle contracture or some other sort of orthopaedic injury or deformity.  In Tom's case, after the successful completion of his surgery, and after months of regular and intensive physical therapy, his affected knee still was not at zero degrees -- not straight.  He achieved great flexion, well over the 120 degrees that is considered successful after knee replacement, but never managed to get the leg straighter than about 3 or 4 degrees.  Being less than totally straight can lead to ongoing pain, and can also cause unwanted wear on the prosthesis.  Straight isn't just a cosmetic plus, it is a medical necessity.

When all the good efforts of a very good physical therapist, and all of Tom's hard work failed to get that knee all the way to straight, the PT recommended the Elite Seat.  It is a fairly simple, light weight, and portable contraption that exerts a (patient-controlled) stretch on the knee joint.  The goal is to, over time, correct the contraction in the muscles and allow the joint to straighten.  Using it requires several 10-15 minute sessions a day.  It is "out of network" for our insurance, and so when He made the initial arrangements for the device, He was told that the company would take what the insurance would pay, and our portion would be a one time, prepaid charge of $400 -- 20% of the monthly rental cost.  The rental term, He was told was unspecified -- "keep it as long as you need it."  We paid that $400 and the Elite Seat was shipped to our home.  He's had it about a month.

Today, He got a phone call from the someone named Brandy, representing the supplier -- the selfsame Brandy who had sold Him on the darned thing to begin with.  It turns out that, today, Brandy has a very different story to tell about the financial arrangements regarding to the rental of the Elite Seat.  Today, the story is that there is a MONTHLY $400 rental charge, and nevermind what you were or were not told at the outset, that is just the way it is.  Suck it up and send us the money.

It is the worst kind of durable medical equipment scam; a completely fraudulent business practice.  He is working to get some sort of resolution from the company -- seemingly three people doing business as both Kneebourne Therapeutic and AKT Medical.  Both use the same phone number, and both are located at the same address in Noblesville, Indiana.  Right now, the "business manager" is purportedly reviewing His file and has promised to call Him back.  If that call does not come fairly soon with some sort of reasonable resolution to this mess, I imagine that there will be phone calls to the Better Business Bureau, and the fraud unit of the state government.  What a mess!  I am sure that no one who reads here will ever encounter this company, or need this piece of equipment.  I sincerely hope not.  Still, this is the forum that I can use to vent about this rotten company.  It won't make any difference, but thank you all for being willing to listen.

swan

What is a Spanking?

I've been getting spanked, and spanking, inside of this relationship for over ten years.  I can't even begin to think about or count how many spankings that must be.  We've spanked across a wide spectrum of "styles" from erotic to disciplinary, and we've used just about every spanking implement there is.  We've used bondage furniture of various kinds, and we've done the almost "traditional" over the knee thing.  If there's a way to spank, probably that has happened in our house.  I've been inclined to think about spanking as just that -- spanking.  Period.  End of discussion.

And then, this morning, waking up slowly and snuggling and rubbing and thinking about an impending spanking, it dawned on me that, at least for me, a spanking is way more than JUST a spanking.  A spanking is ...

pain pleasure touch heat surrender battle obedience submission connection sex thud sting burn rhythm mystery energy dance power discipline joy anger fear triumph hope glory beauty shame prelude finale percussion muscles skin nerves heart mind breath physics love hate gravity resilience balance danger safety defiance risk trust gift ...  

Did I miss any?  I am sure I must have.  Feel free to add to the list.

swan

Lurking

Another annual Love our Lurkers Day has come and gone.  The cyber event, initiated seven years ago in our part of the cyber universe by Bonnie of My Bottom Smarts, is ostensibly an opportunity for those who "lurk" on our various blogs to come out of hiding and say "hello."  While I don't participate, and haven't for years, I observe the festivities played out on many blogs around the circle.  This year, I note two "new" manifestations around the whole business.

This year, it seems that there were a fair number of bloggers who chose to offer various incentives to their lurkers.  Apparently, many people have determined that it is not sufficient to offer an invitation to the ubiquitous lurker.  The consensus seems to be shifting toward the belief that the only way to get the hidden ones to show themselves is to bribe them into offering a word or two.

The other phenomenon that I noticed this year is that some bloggers feel disappointed in the "turn out" they got out of the event.  I saw several discussions about how many actual lurkers commented, and there is a bit of consternation that, in fact, many of the LOL Day comments are left, not by lurkers, but by regular reader/commenters just making the rounds and saying, "Hi" to friends and neighbors.  Again, the feeling I get is that the "invitation" doesn't seem to accomplish what is wanted.

I, myself, am bemused by the continuing dedication to this exercise.  By definition, a lurker is someone who reads but does not contribute.  At the instant that a blogger manages to convince a lurker to offer some form of participation in the discussion, that individual ceases to be a "lurker."  So, LOL Day is really not about loving those lurkers as much as it is, in reality, about converting them to participating partners in our blogging enterprise.  Too, in a more basic, pre-Internet sense, the act of lurking is about remaining hidden; existing furtively and unobserved; sneaking unseen around the edges; even lying in ambush.  Much as we might like to imagine that there are great, unseen hoardes of FRIENDS waiting to be met (just add water and stir...), the truth is that we do not know, cannot know, the motivation of those who lurk around our various blogs.

I have "met" some wonderful people through the act of writing this blog.  There are people who have become companions and even "friends," albeit with the caveat that we've never laid eyes on one another.  For those people, I have a deep affection and an enduring gratitude.  Those relationships are valuable to me, and I appreciate the effort invested in building relationship by the reader on the other side of the screen.  Lurkers however, do not enter into that sort of interaction.  They come here to read, and I choose to make this place open and available in that way.  I can "see" those readers in my statistics, but I know nothing at all about those people.  They are, for me, "audience" in some sense, but they are not people that I know or care about very much.

I think that, for many who blog, Love Our Lurkers Day is sort of fun.  It is an Internet variant of a neighborhood garage sale, or maybe that convivial Halloween Trick or Treating sort of wandering from house to house that happens in some places on the evening of October 31.  Sometimes, lurkers observing the merriment might decide to take a chance and join the party, but it isn't about them...  LOL Day is about us.  The community likes to do it -- and so it continues.

swan